1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a poison container for use in connection with pest control. The poison container has particular utility in connection with rodent control in areas frequented by pets and children.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known to combat rodents by placing poison in passageways traversed by rodents. However, this means of controlling rodent populations can be very dangerous because children and pets may also access the poison. Thus poison containers that hinder children and pets from accessing poison are desirable.
The use of poison containers accessible to rodents is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,026 to Dodds discloses a simplified blank forming a rodent poison dispenser. However, the Dodds ""026 patent appears to disclose a poison dispenser that would allow pets and children access. A child could reach in to the Dodds ""026 poison dispenser and retrieve the poison, or a small pet could easily enter the Dodds ""026 poison dispenser. Moreover, the Dodds ""026 patent appears to disclose a poison dispenser that is limited to the use of powdered or granular poison without a means to maintain such granular poison within the dispenser. Consequently, Dodds ""026 discloses a poison dispenser that provides children and pets easy access to poison. U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,732 to Waast discloses a refillable poison dispenser for combating rodents that appears to have theses same disadvantages. That is, the poison dispenser in the Waast ""732 patent could allow a child to reach in to the device, or it could allow a small pet to enter the device. Further, the dispenser could disperse poison if tilted.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 1,302,160 to Hedrich discloses a poison-containing dispenser that is refillable and that may be secured into the ground. However, the dispenser disclosed by the Hedrich ""160 patent does not hinder children and small pets from accessing the poison. Moreover, the dispenser could disperse poison if tilted.
U.S. Pat. No. 890,430 to Mann discloses a poison dispenser that is xe2x80x9ctwice as long as an abnormally long child""s armxe2x80x9d in an attempt to describe a poison dispenser that would prevent children from accessing the poison contained therein. However, the Mann ""430 patent further discloses that the poison dispenser xe2x80x9cwill have an unobstructed view and passage through the entire device.xe2x80x9d Therefore, the Mann ""430 patent does not prevent children or small pets from accessing the poison as a child could extend his reach into the dispenser by use of a stick or other probe, and a small pet could easily enter the dispenser.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,882 to Koljonen discloses an automatic poison dispenser that may be mounted vertically. However, the Koljonen ""882 patent does not prevent children or small pets from accessing the poison.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a poison container that prevents children or small pets from access the poison. The above-mentioned patents make no provision for an obstructed passageway that would hinder access to all but rodents and that would maintain the poison within the container should it be tilted.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved poison container that would provide rodents with access to poison contained therein while significantly hindering access to children and pets. A need exists for a poison container having a maze through which a rodent could traverse to access the poison, such maze being substantially inaccessible to children and pets. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the poison container according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of pest control in areas frequently by children and pets.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of poison containers and rodent traps now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved poison container, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved poison container and method of controlling pest populations which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a poison container which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a device having a poisonous material within its interior and an entrance that is open in such a way as to form a maze from the entrance to the interior of the device. Such a maze would prevent children and pets from accessing poisonous material held within the device. In an embodiment, the device is a member, such as a rectangular box, comprising a top wall and a bottom wall where the bottom wall has a pair of opposed sidewalls. The bottom wall is attached to the bottom sidewalls. The top and bottom of the box are coupled together via these sidewalls. The device also comprises end walls. Each top end wall, for example, would be attached to the top wall. The bottom end walls would be similarly attached to the bottom wall and the bottom sidewalls. The end walls would be arranged such that the distance between the two bottom end walls is less than the distance between the two top end walls. The end walls may extend to the opposite wall, thus making the opening to the interior of the device very small.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include hinges or bait receptacles. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved poison container that has all of the advantages of the prior art poison dispensers and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved poison container that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved poison container that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such poison container economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new poison container that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.